Best of the Tableau Web ... January 2015

Don't you hate it when people wish you a happy new year when it's already deep into January?

Well, happy new year from all the way in early February! I haven't had a chance to say it until now. I have the honor (and very serious responsibility) of curating January's batch of Best of the Tableau Web.

When I'm not busy writing the Best of the Web blog post, I'm managing one of the best product marketing teams in the world.

I'm lucky to count among my team: Michelle Wallace, whom many of you already know as the voice behind @tableau; Kathleen Goepferd, the brains and artistry behind Tableau's growing collection of customer stories; Tracy Fitzgerald, the fearless leader building Tableau's enormously successful Community; Lauren Rogers, the busy and beloved woman you have to thank if you've ever attended one of the hundreds of worldwide Tableau User Groups; and the friendly but ever-focused Kathryn Holtz, whom you probably consider a best friend if you've ever been a customer speaker at one of the Tableau Conferences. (Seriously. You may have asked her to be in your wedding. It's that kind of closeness. Also, the Call for Speakers for TC15 opens sooooon--stay tuned!)

But, to quote Alanis Morisette, enough about me; let's talk about you for a minute. This month, the Tableau community produced insightful, easy-to-understand tutorials around the upcoming release of Tableau 9.0; dug deeper into what's possible with Tableau and R; and even produced a handy list of Tableau-approved bloggers that proved enormously valuable when I sat down to create this post. (It's truly a symbiotic relationship we have with the community.)

Here's a sneak peak at one of the best LOD tutorials we've come across yet, courtesy of Craig Bloodworth:

So, to steal a phrase my British colleague Andy Cotgreave used in his detailed instructions for how to write a Best of Tableau Web blog post: Right-o! Let's get on with it, shall we?